| Op-ed: Only now, when the radical, violent rightists are hurting IDF soldiers we take notice |
Moshe Ronen
Published: 12.20.11, 18:07 / Israel Opinion
One cannot argue with the facts. Serious, in-depth examinations undertaken many years ago already proved that there are no equal laws for Jews and Arabs in the territories conquered by Israel in 1967.
Then-Deputy Attorney General Yehudit Karp was appointed to look into this exact question in 1982 and found that clear bias exists in favor of Jewish suspects. The Shamgar Committee established in 1994 in the wake of the murder of Muslim worshippers by Dr. Baruch Goldstein confirmed Attorney Karp’s conclusions, and added that nothing has changed since.
Another 17 years have passed, and each one of us can ask the following question: Do our law authorities go easy on rightist offenders?
What happens when Arabs are detained on suspicion of hurling stones at vehicles traveling on a main road? They are suspected of attempted murder, the incident is described as a terror attack, and nobody has any doubt that this is part of Palestinian terrorism. Such suspects will likely spend a long period of time in an Israel Prison Service facility.
Yet when rightist suspects are detained after hurling stones at vehicles or at IDF officers, or after mosques are torched, almost always it turns out that there isn’t enough evidence, or that the suspects pose no danger and can be freed on bail.
We can only blame ourselves
Then-Deputy Attorney General Yehudit Karp was appointed to look into this exact question in 1982 and found that clear bias exists in favor of Jewish suspects. The Shamgar Committee established in 1994 in the wake of the murder of Muslim worshippers by Dr. Baruch Goldstein confirmed Attorney Karp’s conclusions, and added that nothing has changed since.
Another 17 years have passed, and each one of us can ask the following question: Do our law authorities go easy on rightist offenders?
What happens when Arabs are detained on suspicion of hurling stones at vehicles traveling on a main road? They are suspected of attempted murder, the incident is described as a terror attack, and nobody has any doubt that this is part of Palestinian terrorism. Such suspects will likely spend a long period of time in an Israel Prison Service facility.
Yet when rightist suspects are detained after hurling stones at vehicles or at IDF officers, or after mosques are torched, almost always it turns out that there isn’t enough evidence, or that the suspects pose no danger and can be freed on bail.
We can only blame ourselves
How many Jews were convicted of hate offences in recent years? How many are in prison at this time? Every one of us knows the answer: There are almost no convictions. There are almost no arrests either.
When someone is arrested, a great onslaught follows against law authorities, someone gets scared, and the door revolves again. Within a few days, the suspects are again walking among us and complaining that it’s the Jews who are being discriminated against.
To be honest, we can only blame ourselves. Were we horrified when thugs entered Arab villages, torched vehicles, and fired at boilers just for the sake of amusement? Did we remember that innocent Arab shepherds were murdered in the fields, with nobody being detained for years?
Only once a rightist Jewish suspect was detained (Yaakov Teitel, who only recently was found fit to stand trial) and confessed to murder, we suddenly realized that a person’s life was taken yet nobody reported it.
But now, only when Jewish lawbreakers are hurting IDF soldiers, suddenly we woke up and are addressing this issue. So do our law authorities favor rightist activists? The answer to this question is clear.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4164487,00.html
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